MTA Chairman and CEO Jay Walder abruptly announced his resignation this afternoon after two years on the job, saying he was leaving the transit agency to take a private sector job in Hong Kong.

“I want to thank Governors Cuomo and former Governor Paterson for the honor of serving the people of New York State,” Walder said.

“The MTA’s transportation system is the foundation of the metropolitan region and we are fortunate to have thousands of dedicated men and women who work so hard to provide these critically important transportation services to millions of people each and every day.”

He is leaving the MTA to take a job as CEO of MTR, a publicly traded company that operates rail services in Asia and Europe.

He will step down from the MTA on Oct. 21.

“In challenging times, we brought stability and credibility to the MTA by making every dollar count, by delivering long overdue improvements and by refusing to settle for business as usual,” Walder said.

During Walder’s tenure with the perpetually cash-strapped transit agency, he stressed the importance of reigning costs in and improving transparency with the public.

He also sought to haul the century-old subway system into the 21st century, introducing count-down clocks, security cameras, and a new user friendly website.

Just yesterday he announced the MTA planned on slashing a total of $4 billion from the capital plan budget, which is used to fund big ticket items like the Second Avenue Subway.